Gasline Newsletter October 2007

Volume 9, No. 5

Home Addresses

If you have not given us your home address, please update your information online at www.csahq.org under Members Only/Member Profile Update, or call the CSA office at 800-345-3691. We are upgrading the CSA database and Web Site at this time and one of the new features will be the ability to give CSA members contact information for their legislators. Legislative districts are determined by home address.

2008 Winter Hawaiian Seminar in Maui

Why not start off 2008 earning 20 CME credits at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa on Maui? The 2008 CSA Winter Hawaiian Seminar will be January 21-25, 2008, and will feature topics such as blocks for the ambulatory setting, managing difficult airways, current guidelines for obstetric anesthesia, pediatric preoperative preparation, perioperative ischemia and beta blockade, transesophageal echo and more. View the brochure and register online at www.csahq.org.

The ASA Annual Meeting began with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger welcoming the ASA and anesthesiologists to San Francisco: October 14, 2007

American Society of Anesthesiologists

Greetings to all who have gathered for your 2007 annual meeting.

I applaud your fantastic work to enhance the quality of medical care for patients in California and throughout our country. Your commitment to advocacy and education is strengthening our health care industry and providing great comfort to the many patients who rely on the skilled care of your members.

My sincere gratitude goes to each of you for your wonderful efforts to relieve pain and deliver patient-centered care in a variety of life-saving settings. By advancing science and safety in medicine, you are keeping our nation on the cutting edge of quality health care.

On behalf of all Californians, please accept my best wishes for an enriching stay in the Golden State and every continued success.

Sincerely,

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Mayor Gavin Newsom then declared this Anesthesiology Week in San Francisco. Read the Proclamation by the City and County of San Francisco at http://www.csahq.org/pdf/news/anesthesiologists_week.pdf.

Important! NPI Dual-Use Period Changes

The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is extending the current dual-use period, which began on May 23, 2007, to continue beyond the NPI (National Provider Identifier) implementation date. Effective November 26, 2007, the NPI implementation date, a Medi-Cal provider number will continue to be required, even though the NPI is also being requested. Failure to include the Medi-Cal provider number beyond the NPI implementation date could result in delay or denial of payment.

Providing both sets of provider numbers will assist DHCS in its continuing effort to provide prompt and accurate claims payment to Medi-Cal providers. As a result, until post-implementation NPI evaluations occur, use of the Medi-Cal provider number on all transactions will continue to be mandatory to achieve optimal success. Medi-Cal providers must continue using their Medi-Cal provider numbers until instructed otherwise.

The only exception to the dual-use rule is for those transactions where both sets of provider identifiers are not supported, such as the electronic pharmacy claims (NCPDP 5.1/1.1 standard). Where both sets of provider identifiers are not supported, providers must continue to use the Medi-Cal provider number beyond the November 26, 2007 NPI implementation date. Providers defined by the HIPAA final rule and Medi-Cal policy as “atypical” will also continue to use only their Medi-Cal provider numbers.

Please note that the following exceptions apply after the November 26, 2007 implementation date. For these exceptions, only the Medi-Cal provider number can be used during the dual-use period. Below is a partial list:

a. Electronic pharmacy claims (NCPDP 5.1/1.1 standard)

b. All proprietary Medi-Cal forms, including the Payment Request for Long Term Care Form (25-1), Pharmacy Claim Form (30-1), Compound Drug Pharmacy Claim Form (30-4), Treatment Authorization Request (TAR), Claims Inquiry Form (CIF, 60-1) and Appeal Form (90-1)

c. Direct Data Entry (DDE) applications, including Internet Professional Claim Submission (IPCS), Real-Time Internet Pharmacy (RTIP) and the Point of Service (POS) network